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Egypt
Overview Egypt is a Muslim sultanate of over seven million people, located in Africa and known for its proximity to the Suez Canal and its internal issues, currently manifesting in the Egyptian Civil War over the throne. It is part of the Arabic-speaking world, and maintains close cultural ties, as well as ties to its rich history, based largely around the Nile. History Roman Egypt It was not long after the death of Caesar that the newly rampant Roman Empire conquered Egypt, a rich land ripe for conquest and integration as one of the empire's breadbaskets and most affluent provinces. A land long known as one of the cradles of western civilisation, it contributed well to the Roman Empire for the peaceful duration it was part of it, notably one of the few regions where Christianity did not take hold as firmly compared to other regions upon the empire's adoption of Christianity. When the Eastern Roman Empire separated, it became part of its domains, natural for its location, and it was generally a peaceful, fertile province of the empire even with the West's fall, all the way up until the successes of various foreign empires to the east, pull it back and forth. In the short period it endured this weakening warfare, the Islamic caliphates rose and it was quickly conquered. Islamic Caliphates In 639 AD, a small Arabian force attacked Egypt, barely garrisoned and tired after the wars fought over it so recently. Quickly, they were able to conquer it, incorporating it into the caliphate and quickly beginning the process of spreading their religion, this region one of the first important ones to yield to this proselytisation. From that point on, it endured a rich and prosperous history, ruled as it was under the Romans as a rich, fertile land, often bickered over but generally always kept as or near the heartland of some caliphate, all the way up to the Mamluk rebellion that gave it over to a different sort of control, though one that quickly established a legitimate state and proclaimed a caliphate. Ottoman Conquest With the rise of a huge empire in the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt under the Mamluks suddenly looked much weaker than Egypt traditionally was. In 1516, the rampant Ottoman Empire sent troops through its Levantine domains to overthrow the Mamluks from their Nile lands and take it for the Ottoman Empire. They met with remarkable success, defeating armies and wiping them from the field, Mamluk society dissolving as their military caste saw humiliating defeat and dilution from battle deaths. It seemed that Egypt would be absorbed fairly easily, but despite the conquest's speed, it was not so. Not a greatly long time after the conquest, the Ottomans were attacked from all quarters by those attempting to partition it, and it succumbed, the Mamluk remnants in Egypt mixed with Turkish governors proclaiming independence before they too were claimed as spoils from their perished master. Independence Era In the 1700s, a strange cast of bureaucrats, slaves and farmers ruled. Having appointed a distant relative of the now landless Hafsid dynasty as their sultan, they maintained a sturdy government based upon both Ottoman millet and shariah law, but with the retreat of the Ottomans leaving a power vacuum in the bureaucracy and the first independence experienced in millennia, there was a lack of an upper class, something desperately needed in an agrarian, hierarchical society. Slowly, one developed, but many from avarice and greed, speedily appointed and granted wide powers to ensure order did not break down. At first, the policy of decentralisation and autonomy being traded off for stability and placation worked, but soon, with a fairly inept sultan, things broke down. The first, second and third sultans from independence oversaw their powers being torn away at, the earlier reigns not acting upon it due to inactivity and inexperience while later rulers' intentions could not be carried out at all, due to their magnates' powers. By the time of the fourth of this new dynasty, Abu Bakr Mohammed al-Iskandriyah, the potentates of localities far outweighed central authority in terms of both officially granted rights and military strength. Many found it useful to preserve the nominal position of authorities, but it was not long before some became inevitably uppity. Civil War With Sultan Abu Bakr Mohammed al-Iskandriyah's death, on the 14th of April, 1881, the obvious choice for a successor was his son, Botros Sem al-Iskandriyah. However, the mayor of Damietta, one of those who had secured significant autonomy from the crown directly, challenged this, claiming that the son was both inept and had abdicated in favour of him. Thus, Abdul Rahman ibn Haroun al-Dumyat laid claim to the title of Sultan, bringing many of this allies in. His major power bases included the far south, the west where he promised independence to Cyrene supporters and his own domains in the delta, whereas the opposing sultan's son, young and fearful enough that he allowed the governor of Cairo to work out his campaign, had supporters spanning most of the Nile and the Red Sea regions. The Saharan leaders, notably, stayed largely neutral, likely at the behest of the leader in the area, a foreign merchant who extorted the parts of Egypt conventional control could not extend to. They did, however, send some financial support to the rebels. All of this came into action only a day after the sultan's death, troops moving west from Damietta, ignoring the Greens (as the sultan's son's men called themselves) to the east and taking Alexandria, the capital. Despite this early victory, the Sack of Alexandria no small feat, a later battle at Cairo, where the Greens converged upon the Purples (their opponents) saw their relatively less experienced, less motivated and even less numerous troops defeated decisively. They still have more reinforcements from the south, but Cairo scattered existing armies enough that the Purples saw victory in sight by the 20th, as the results of things became clear. During this period, though, many European powers, fearful of what might happen to the Suez Canal, and invited by various parties within Egypt, began invasions, many under pretext of restoring order or helping applies. Politics To be done after the civil war ends Demographics Egypt is almost entirely populated by Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslim Egyptians. While there are large minorities of Christian groups such as the Copts and Jews as well, its state religion having been Sunni Islam for so many centuries has resulted in almost whole-scale conversion. Similarly, cultural dominance by its rulers has seen Arabic become the national and most widely used language, even many speak local dialects and have peculiar accents, depending on the region of Egypt. Cultural minorities include Bedouins, Moors, Berbers, Nubians, Greeks and other such groups; they are largely ignored, not actively discriminated against but not quite accepted into the mainstream either. Notably, the Suez Canal area has seen many European immigrants. Military To be done following civil war Economy Lots of agriculture, k. Category:Nations